As we embark on another August, it's worth pointing out that this is generally a pretty dismal time for stocks. Summer in general is the weakest time of the year for the market, with the worst months historically coming from June to September.
Since 1985, the S&P 500 has lost an average of 0.6 percent in August. Over that time frame, the index has declined nearly half the time in August. The only weaker month has been September, in which the S&P has dropped by an average of 0.7 percent.
The odd thing about August is that it often seems out of step with the rest of the year. In 2013, when the S&P was up by about 30 percent overall, it lost 3.1 percent in August. But in 2012, when the S&P was up just 13 percent, we had the rare good August, with the index gaining 2.0 percent.
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